Beyond the Edge
by Avatardragontrainer
Summary: A mysterious new Dragon Rider arrives Dragon's Edge with important information for Hiccup concerning possible surviving Nightfuries living on a distant land.
1. Chapter 1

Beyond the Edge

* * *

I don't own How to Train Your Dragon

It has been a long time since I've writen anything in this fandom, three years, and a lot has changed, the second movie was released as well as the Netflix series this is based off of.

* * *

Vigo and the hunters had been strangely quiet lately. No one had spotted a hunter ship in weeks, Hiccup was determined to find out why. Had the hunters moved on to other waters? He looked over his map and frowned. The last Hunter ship sighting had been far to the west, that had been over a month ago.

Hiccup rolled up his map and left his hut, bumping into Astrid.

"Oh, hey Astrid!" He said quickly hiding the map behind his back.

Astrid frowned at him. "You're going out to look for the hunters again, aren't you?" She asked.

"No, what are you talking about?' Hiccup said.

"Give it to me," Astrid said holding out her hand for the map.

"Fine," Hiccup said handing over the map. "Don't you think it's a little odd that the Hunters have suddenly disappeared?"

"Hiccup, you need to let this go," Astrid "You've been searching for months."

Hiccup and Toothless were scouting for Dragon Hunter ships, they had been out all day, when Hiccup finally spotted a ship in the distance, at first glance, it was abandoned, but as they flew closer, they both noticed the ship had taken damage and was listing to the side badly.

"Careful buddy," Hiccup said as Toothless landed on the deck.

"What on earth happened here?" he wondered aloud, looking around seeing several dead bodies, some with sword wounds, familiar looking scorch marks covered the deck. After searching the ship, Hiccup found no clues as to who had attacked the vessel.

"Weird," Hiccup commented returning to Toothless, getting back into the saddle. "Let's head back to the Edge."

* * *

-Back at the Edge-

"Which one of you attacked and sunk that Dragon Hunter ship to the west?" Hiccup asked landing, getting off Toothless, looking at Heather and Astrid.

"Whoa, someone sunk a Dragon trapper ship?" Ruffnutt asked.

"Sunk is an understatement, there was nothing left, the entire crew was killed!" Hiccup said.

"I didn't do it," Heather said rubbing Windshear's neck. "Windshear and I have been here all day."

"Then who attacked the ship?" Astrid asked as thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," Hiccup said. "No one is going anywhere in this storm."

The next morning, after the storm had passed, Hiccup and the other Riders set out to search for the mysterious Dragon Rider. They soon found another half sunken ship and landed on the deck to investigate.

"Hiccup, do these burn marks look familiar to you?" Fishlegs asked when they landed on the deck.

"They do," Hiccup said, but he couldn't place what dragon they belonged to. "Alright, spread out and look for any clues."

"Hiccup, we're not going to find anything here," Astrid said. "Any clues left behind would have been washed away by the storm last night."

"Astrid is right," Fishlegs said. "Whoever did this was very thorough."

Snotlout and the twins emerged from below deck.

"Did you find anything down there?" Hiccup asked.

"Goose egg," Snotlout said.

"So whoever attacked the ship killed the crew, but they freed the Dragons," Hiccup said.

"Whoever it is, they clearly aren't a friend of the Dragon Hunters," Astrid said climbing back up onto Stormfly. "We'll need to continue searching."

While continuing their search, the Riders found four more ships, all had been attacked similarly, the crew killed, and the Dragons all set free.

"I think we should find a Dragon Hunter ship and follow it until our mystery rider attacks it," Heather suggested after they had found a fifth ship capsized in the water. "It's the only way we're going to be able to catch this guy."

"I agree," Hiccup said.

Finding a hunter ship to follow was easier said than done, it turned out. The riders spent hours searching for another hunter ship.

"Hiccup, it's getting dark maybe we should head back and continue the search tomorrow," Astrid said.

"Astrid is right," Snotlout said.

"Wow Snotlout, I didn't think you've ever agreed with Astrid on anything," Fishlegs said.

"I don't, look," Snotlout said pointing at a Stormfront. "There is no way I'm flying through that."

Hiccup looked at the Stormfront and the lightning flashing in the clouds.

"Wait a minute…" He said watching the flashes.

"I know that face, and no, there is no way I'm flying into that!" Snotlout said.

"What are you thinking?" Astrid asked Hiccup. "A Skrill?"

"I dunno, maybe," Hiccup said watching the lightning for a moment before suddenly flying off towards the storm.

"Ugh, I hate it when he does that!" Snotlout complained following hiccup into the storm. "If I die, I'm gonna kill you Hiccup!"

"There's a pattern to the flashes, look," Hiccup said.

"You're right," Astrid said watching the flashes.

As soon as they started, the flashes suddenly stopped.

"What's going on?" Fishlegs asked.

"Shh! Listen!" Astrid hissed.

Soon after the sounds of fighting reached their ears, the clashing of metal, a roar, followed by the screams of the dying.

"Welp, I'm out!" Snotlout said turning Hookfang around.

The sounds eventually died out leaving the riders in an eerie silence. Lightning flashed revealing the silhouette of a dragon and rider in front of them.

"Hiccup is that a…" Fishlegs started to ask, but Hiccup was already gone, chasing after the rider.

"Have I mentioned that I _really_ hate it when he does that!" Snotlout said.

"Come on buddy, faster," Hiccup said as Toothless chased after the dragon and rider.

The dark gray dragon seemed to blend in with the storm clouds, Hiccup could only see it when it was illuminated by lightning. It seemed to be slightly faster than Toothless as well, he couldn't seem to be able to keep up.

Toothless also had to battle the storm which didn't help. Hiccup was afraid the harsh winds would tear the tailfin off, it already getting difficult to control it, the high speed turns the other dragon was making didn't help.

"We have to end this now, Toothless fire a warning shot!" Hiccup said over the storm. "But don't hit the Dragon!"

Toothless fired a plasmablast at the dragon and its rider, Hiccup watched it fly past the Dragon, the dragon banked to the right and disappeared into the storm clouds for cover.

Hiccup followed on Toothless, diving into the clouds, after them. Hiccup soon spotted them, but the other dragon was still far ahead of them, too far for Hiccup to make out which type of Dragon it was. He had to end this chase soon, it was becoming too difficult to control Toothless's tailfin.

"Fire another shot," Hiccup said, "Show them we mean business."

Toothless fired another plasma blast at the Dragon as if sensing it the dragon flared its wings, slowing down drastically, causing Toothless roll to avoid hitting the Dragon.

"Whoa!" Hiccup exclaimed gripping the saddle to keep from falling off.

Toothless came to a stop and turned around to see the other dragon, hovering mere yards away from him and Hiccup. It's rider brandishing a sword.

The two dragons hovered in the air, mere yards apart, lightning flashed between the two dragons, fully illuminating the other. Revealing it as a dark gray almost black Nightfury. Hiccup gasped and starred in shock, another Nightfury. When the lightning flashed again, both the dragon and rider had dissapeared into the clouds once more.

* * *

Who is this mysterious new Dragon Rider? Where did he come from? Why does he have a Nightfury? All questions will be answered in the next chapter.


	2. The Return

Lightning and death

I don't own HTTYD

Thanks to everybody who reviewed, I appreciate it!

* * *

After the other Dragon rider disappeared, Hiccup and Toothless remained hovering in the air for a moment before they turned around returned to the other riders. Still trying to process what he'd seen. "Riders, back to the Edge!" He shouted over the storm as it grew worse.

"Did you see anything?" Astrid asked as the flew back toward Dragon's Edge.

I'm not sure, but I saw something," Hiccup said. "For now, let's get back to the Edge."

The Dragon Riders continued flying back to Dragon's edge, unaware they were being followed.

"Not too close, I just want to see where they are going," The rider said to his Nighfury.

The Riders landed back on Dragon's Edge, as soon as they touched the ground Fishlegs asked Hiccup.

"Hiccup was that another…?"

"Another NightFury? I'm not sure," Hiccup said.

Thunder crashed in the distance. "We'll go back and look tomorrow," Hiccup said looking at the approaching storm front "Everyone inside, now!"

The main brunt of the storm had missed Dragon's edge, but there was still damage to the huts

As they began the repairs to the edge, the familiar screaming of a Nightfury filled their ears. Hiccup looked up and saw a blackish streak fly across the sky, do a roll and turn towards them. The rider had followed them!

"Toothless!" He yelled calling for his dragon.

"Stormfly, come!" Astrid yelled.

Hiccup got on Toothless and watched as the other Nightfury circled around the base a couple times before landing at the stables. A figure got off the dragon and stood next to it and looked directly at the Riders, his face obscured by a hood.

Astrid and Heather both pulled their axes off their backs; Toothless readied a Plasma Blast, Hookfang flamed up.

"Whoa, take it easy bud, we don't know who that is, or what they want yet," Hiccup said as they approached the mysterious rider, who had a Viking sword on his hip and a shield on his back. Hiccup had uneasy feeling he knew exactly how to use them.

"Who are you?" Hiccup asked when they got closer. He remained on Toothless in case anything happened, up close the other Nightfury was slightly bigger than Toothless.

The Rider reached up and lowered his hood revealing a boy about Hiccup's age. The last time any other the riders had seen him, he and his Nightfury, Nightstorm had been plummeting toward the icy ocean around berk.

"Torin? Torin Shatter-Scales?" Astrid asked, and the rider nodded still remaining silent.

"But you died, we all saw you crash into the frozen sea," Hiccup said.

"No," Torin said shaking his head. "After Nightstorm and I crashed through the ice, I fully expected to open my eyes and see Valhalla. I woke up lying on an ice sheet with Nightstorm wrapped around me."

"I don't understand, where have you been the last three years?" Hiccup asked. "Why not let us know you were alive?"

"I will explain everything inside," Torin said.

Torin followed the riders inside one of the huts.

"Where have you been all these years?" Hiccup asked again once they were inside.

"Everywhere," Torin said pulling a map out of Nightstorm's saddle bag, laying it on the table. "All over the world, and there are Dragons everywhere, on nearly every continent."

The Rider's faces lit up with excitement.

"Did you find any Nightfuries?" Hiccup asked hopefully

"I'm sorry, but no," Torin said.

Hiccup's face dropped.

"But I did hear rumors," Torin added.

"Rumors?" Hiccup asked. "What kind of rumors?"

"Rumors that led me to the ends of the earth, and to this," Torin said pulling out a very old looking Dragoneye lens.

"Is that a…?" Hiccup started to ask.

"A Dragoneye lens? Yes," Torin said.

"It looks different than the others," Hiccup said.

"That's because it's for the Nightfury," Torin said. "I think it could lead us to more Nightfuries."

"Only one way to find out," Hiccup said retrieving the Dragoneye, putting the lens inside.

"Toothless, slow burn," Hiccup said holding the Dragoneye in front of Toothless.

Toothless's fire illuminated a large map.

"Fishlegs, do you recognize any of this?" Hiccup asked.

"No," Fishlegs said walking up to the map illuminated on the wall.

"I do though," Torin said. "Everything, except for that," He said pointing to the large land mass.

"Same here," Heather spoke up, making Torin turn around to see who had spoken.

"Heather," He said looking at the girl leaning against the door frame.

"Do you two know each other?" Hiccup asked seeing the looks on their faces.

"Windsher and I were struck by lightning several months ago," Heather explained. "Torin saved our lives."

"And you never thought to mention it before?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm sorry, I…" Heather began.

"That's my fault, I didn't want my survival to be known," Torin said interrupting her. "If hunters found out about him they'd hunt Nightstorm relentlessly, I didn't want to lose him."

"That's why you were attacking Hunter ships," Astrid realized. "No survivors means no one is alive to alert Vigo."

"Exactly," Torin said. "As far as we know, Toothless and Nightstorm may very well be the last two Nightfuries."

"There is, however, a slight that there could be more Nightfuries." He said pointing at the large land mass in the center of the map.

"Its so far away, though," Hiccup said. "We've never been out that far, not even close. I'm not sure if our dragons could even reach it."

"Hiccup is right," Torin said. "Nightstorm and I tried it once we'd need a ship, a big one."

"What kind of ship?" Hiccup asked.

"A dragon hunter ship," Torin. ""They…

"No! There is no way I'm putting Stormfly on a ship designed to capture Dragons!" Astrid protested, interrupting Torin.

"No, Torin is right," Heather spoke up. "Those ships are designed to be at sea for weeks or months at a time, and they have enough room for our dragons."

"Yes, thank you, Heather, that was exactly the point I was trying to make," Torin said looking at Astrid.

"Aren't you forgetting something? What about Vigo?" Astrid asked. "If we all suddenly vanish, He and the Hunters will have a field day hunting Dragons."

"Astrid's right," Fishlegs said. "We can't just abandon The Edge"

"Maybe we don't have to," Hiccup said thinking.

"What are you thinking?" Astrid asked him.

"I'm thinking, You, Torin, Heather and I go, while Fishlegs and Snotlout stay behind with the B team from Berk." Hiccup said.

"That could work," Heather said. "How are we going to get the ship, we can't just ask Vigo for one."

"Ya never know, that could work," Torin said. "But no, we'll have to steal one from the Hunters themselves."

* * *

The Mystery Rider is reveled! And he's met Heather before. What is this strange new land?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I don't own HTTYD

* * *

As it turned out, finding a lone Hunter ship turned out to be more difficult than originally thought. When they did manage to find one, it was always in a group of three or more ships.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Torin shouted as arrows flew past him and Nightstorm, he managed to catch a few on his shield.

"We'll have to find another way!" Hiccup said. "Fall back!"

The riders turned around and flew away from the convoy of ships.

"Maybe we should try again at night, we could sneak aboard the ship in the dark and kill the crew," Torin suggested as they landed back at The Edge

"No, no killing," Hiccup said.

"I'm sorry, but no, these hunters just tried to kill me, I'm not feeling to merciful at the moment," Torin said. "All they'll get from me is a one way trip to Helhiem."

Hiccup remembered first meeting Torin three years ago, he wondered what on earth had happened to Torin to make him this way.

"I'm going to bed," Torin said before dissapearing with Nightstorm.

Torin rested against Nightstorm's side thinking about how to capture the ship, he had an idea, he just know if HIccup would agree to it. Making a mental note of it, he rolled over and quickly fell asleep under Nightstorm's wing.

* * *

 _He opened his eyes and found himself back on Berk, three years ago in the middle of an epic battle between man and Dragons. He saw the other Riders around him, he heard the scream and turned in the saddle in time see Toothless plummeting out of the Sky, minus Hiccup. Torin looked around frantically for the boy, he was so focused he didn't see the fireball until it was too late._

 _The fireball hit Nightstorm on the right wing, the two started to rapidly fall from the sky toward the icy water. Torin closed his eyes before the impact…_

* * *

"AHH!" Torin yelled, waking with a start, reaching for his sword.

"Calm down,"

Once Torin had calmed down he saw Heather crouched over him, Nightstorm standing behind her, looking worried.

"Nightstorm came to get me when you wouldn't wake up," she said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it was just a nightmare," Torin explained, standing up with a little assistance from Heather. Torin, Nightstorm, as well as Heather and Windsher, joined the others in the clubhouse in time to hear Astrid say.

"We need a new approach, how exactly are you planning to get this ship?" Astrid asked. "Land on the deck and ask them all to jump overboard?"

"Actually, that's exactly what I plan on doing?" Torin announced making the others turn around to see him and Heather. "Hiccup and I can land on the deck of the ship with Toothless and Nightstorm. The hunters should panic and jump ship; easy, and no one has to die,"

"You make it sound so simple," Heather said standing next to him.

"It should be, all these Hunters are cowards," Torin growled. "I've never seen one put up a good fight."

"What if they don't?" Astrid asked.

Torin ominously patted the pommel of his sword hanging on his hip. Something seemed very familiar about the design of that sword to Hiccup, but he couldn't place it at the moment.

"Let me worry about that," Torin. said to the others. "Nightstorm and I have been in plenty of fights before, right buddy?"

The riders took off from The Egde and scouted around until they managed to find a Hunter ship.

"Okay, here's the plan," Hiccup said looking at this ship below them. "Torin and I will circle around the ship and land on the deck. If anything goes wrong, one of us will send up a signal."

"Alright, just promise me it won't go wrong," Astrid said to Hiccup.

"I promise, everything will be fine," Hiccup said back.

Hiccup and Torin separated from the others and dove down at the Dragon Hunter ship, both Nightfuries giving off their signature scream.

"Nightfury!" Someone on the deck yelled as they dragons circled around the ship and landed on the deck, both dragons ready to unleash plasma blasts on the crew.

Torin got off Nightstorm, sword in hand. "Hello gentlemen, if you don't mind; my friend and I will be taking over the ship now," he said.

Torin thought the hunters would fight back but faced with two Nightfuries they all dropped their weapons and jumped over the side of the ship.

"Like I said easy," Torin said sheathing his sword.

"It looks like all these cages are empty," Hiccup said looking into a cage.

"Strange," Torin said resting a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What's strange?" Hiccup asked.

"Nothing, never mind, I'm just being paranoid," Torin said. "Too many delves into deep dark caves full of Draguar and other nasty creatures."

Torin shivered slightly at the thought and went back on deck. Nightstorm nudged his elbow making him jump.

"Sorry buddy, I guess I'm a little on edge," He said rubbing the Nightfuries snout.

"The ships' clean, there's no sign of dragons anywhere," Hiccup said ascending the stairs. "It's like you said; strange,"

Toothless sent up a signal, and the other riders landed on the deck of the ship a few moments later.

"The Ship is empty," Torin informed them. "There are no Dragons anywhere onboard."

"Odd," Fishlegs said. "This ship should be full of Dragons."

"Are you complaining about that?" Torin asked him.

"No," Fishlegs said. "It's just an observation."

"Alright, let's sail it back to the Edge," Torin said.

"Do you even know how to sail a ship this big?" Heather asked him.

"Not really, but how different could it really be from a Viking longboat?" Torin asked standing at the wheel.

"Maybe we should tow the ship with the Dragons Edge, just to be safe," Hiccup suggested.

"Good idea," Torin said looking at the two Nightfuries. "Toothless and Nightstorm should be able to manage it."

They attached ropes to Nightstorm and Toothless so could tow the large ship. Hiccup wasn't so sure it would actually work, but between the two Nightfuries, they were able to tow the ship with little effort.

It was slow going, but they were moving, they had a headwind too, which didn't help them any.

As he watched Torin became aware of how much bigger than Toothless Nightstorm really was.

"Hey Fishlegs, you see this?" He said pointing to the Nightfuries flying side by side as they towed the ship.

"Nightstorm appears to be bigger than Toothless, interesting," Fishlegs said.

"He's stronger and faster too," Torin said as he watched the Dragons. "You don't think…"

"Think what?" Fishlegs asked.

"Nothing, nevermind," Torin said.

"You don't think Nightstorm is a Titan Wing, do you?" Fishlegs asked seeing where Torin's questioning was going.

"I don't know, I haven't really had any other Nightfuries to compare him too," Torin said. "Aside from Toothless, and that was three years ago."

"We're approaching The Edge!" Astrid called out.

"That was quick," Torin commented.

They towed the ship to the dock and anchored it in place so it wouldn't drift away and crash into the dock.

"We should start retrofitting the Ship tomorrow," Hiccup said.

"Retrofitting? How?" Torin asked.

"We're going to remove the cages, sails, catapults, and arrow launchers," Hiccup said.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Torin said. "The catapults and launchers I mean. What if we come under attack by wild Dragons, other Vikings, or worse?"

"He has a point," Astrid said. "Our Dragons may not be enough."

"I'll think about it," Hiccup said.

"While you do that, I'm gonna go for a flight on Nightstorm," Torin announced climbing onto the Dragon's saddle, taking off.

Hiccup watched the Nightfury fade off until it was just a tiny speck in the distance.

"He doesn't like to stay put for very long, does he?" Hiccup asked Heather.

"Nope," Heather said with a small smile before taking off after him on Windsher.

She caught up to him high above the clouds.

"I love it up here," Torin said as Heather flew up next to him and Nightstorm. "Up here, I feel free, far away from all the troubles of the rest of the world."

"I know what you mean," Heather said. "Up here, it's like nothing else matters."

"Catch me if you can!" Torin suddenly shouted, and Nightstorm banked upwards.

"Oh, it's on!" Heather said giving chase.

"Come on, try to keep up!" Torin shouted back at Heather as Nightstorm climbed.

"Come on buddy, higher!" He said as the Nightfury beat his wings harder, flying higher and closer to the sun.

Torin noticed the air growing colder around him.

"Keep going!" He shouted he had never been this high before.

"Torin, stop!" He heard Heather shout from behind him.

Torin stopped and twisted around in the saddle to see Heather and Windsher below him.

"What's wrong?" He asked flying down to Heather's level as Windsher hesitated to go any higher, despite Heather's urging.

"Windsher won't climb any higher," Heather said. "I better land her somewhere."

"Okay," Torin said slightly confused. "I saw an island close by, we can land there."

"Let's go, girl," Heather said to Windsher.

"Race you to the bottom," Torin said with a smirk, Nightstorm folded his wings, and they plummeted out the sky like a stone.

Heather watched them for a moment then followed them in a steep dive. When they reached the island, Torin and Nightstorm had already landed, and Torin was relaxing against Nightstom's side.

"What took you so long?" He joked as Windsher landed.

"How did you…?" Heather asked. "Never mind."

"Come on, I want to show you something," Torin said suddenly, standing up quickly, getting back on Nightstorm's saddle, holding his hand out to her.

"What about Windsher?" Heather asked.

"She'll be fine, It will be worth it, I promise," Torin said with a small smile.

Heather looked over at Windsher who was lying in the shade under a tree.

"Alright," Heather said. grabbing Torin's hand, he pulled her onto the saddle in front of him.

"Ready buddy? Let's go," he said to Nightstorm, the Nightfury launched into the sky.

* * *

Up next, a sort of romantic flight scene with Torin and Heather. I'm not totaly sure if a Nightfury be Titan Wings or not, either way, Nightstorm has always been a bit bigger than Toothless.


	4. Where no one goes

Where no one goes

I don't own HTTYD

Sorry for the longer delay in updates

* * *

Torin held on to Heather as Nightstorm climbed through and finally broke through the clouds.

"It's cold up here," She remarked, putting her hood up.

"You haven't seen anything yet, keep going bud," Torin said. Nightstorm looked back at him continued to climb upwards.

"How high are we going?" Heather asked.

"You'll see," Torin said.

"If you keep going, we're going to fly into the sun," Heather said.

"No, we won't," Torin told her.

"Okay, that's high enough," He said to Nightstorm who leveled out.

"Look," Torin said pointing to the horizon.

"At what?" Heather asked looking around and below them.

"Not down there, up there," Torin said pointing up.

Heather looked up at the sky, she had never seen so many stars in her life.

"Wow..." She said amazed by the number of stars in the sky.

"Wait for it," Torin said.

A moment later the Northern Lights appeared in the Sky above them. They were so close, Heather felt like she could reach out and touch them.

She had seen the lights before but never been this close to them before.

"This is amazing, how high up are we?" She asked him looking over the side.

"Try not to think about it," Torin answered her.

"Heather, look," Torin said, pointing. "A group of Timberjacks,"

Torin steered Nightstorm toward the group of Timberjacks.

Torin looked at the Horizon and saw the sun peeking over the top and realized how long they had been gone.

"Heather, look," He said pointing at the Horizon.

Heather looked at the rising sun and saw a slight curve to the Horizon.

Heather was slightly confused as to why the horizon would have a curve if the world were flat.

"The Earth is round," Torin informed her.

"What?" Heather asked looking back at him.

"The earth is round," Torin repeated. "I learned that in Europe."

"Europe?" Heather asked him.

"Yeah," Torin said casually as if it was no big deal.

"Is that where you've been all these years?" Heather asked him.

"Um...yeah, among other places," Torin said.

"Like where?" Heather asked him.

Torin thought for a few moments, thinking of what to mention to heather.

"Did you see any new Dragons?" Heather asked before he could answer.

"Actually..." Torin began to say but fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Heather asked him. "Torin?"

"They're gone," He answered.

"What do you mean, gone?" Heather asked him.

"Hunted to near extinction," Torin said sadly.

Nightstorm looked back at his rider and rumbled.

"But, that's impossible!" Heather said looking back at him.

"Heather, it's true," Torin said. "I've seen it."

"It...it can't be!" Heather said.

"I'm sorry Heather, but it is," Torin said. "Dragon Slayers and hunters have wiped them out."

"But...but...," Heather stammered.

"Come on, we better get back to The Edge, it's getting late," Torin said turning Nightstorm back toward The Edge.

-Back at the Edge-

Torin landed back on the Edge with Heather and Windsher just as the sun started to peek over the horizon.

"Where have you two been?" Hiccup asked coming out of the clubhouse.

"We just went for a quick flight," Torin said.

"You were gone all night," Hiccup pointed out.

"Okay, so we may have gotten a little sidetracked," Torin said.

"Hiccup, there's something you need to know," Heather said. "About the Dragons."

"What about them?" Hiccup asked looking at Torin.

"Tell him what you told me," Heather said.

After a long silence, Torin finally started explaining.

"I knew it!" Astrid yelled drawing her ax. "You are a Dragon hunter!"

Hiccup caught her and held her back to keep her from killing Torin on the spot.

"I did what I had to, to survive," Torin explained backing away from Astrid and her ax but keeping a hand on his sword.

"Do you have any idea how much a dragon hide is worth?" Torin asked. "A single dragon could feed Nightstorm and me for weeks."

"RAH!" Astrid yelled breaking free from Hiccup, charging at Torin.

Torin's sword was out of its sheath so fast the others missed the act of him drawing the weapon.

Nightstorm landed between the two Vikings and roared at them before blood could be spilled.

Astrid tried to get around him but was stopped by his tail.

"Astrid stop!" Hiccup shouted as Astrid vaulted over Nightstorm's tail to get to Torin.

Astrid swung her ax at Torin's head, Torin raised his sword to block it.

"I did what I had to! We would have starved to death otherwise!" He said pushing Astrid back. "What would you have done Astrid?"

"I would rather die!" Astrid growled.

"I'm not going to stand here and claim to be a perfect person, I did what I had to, and I won't apologize for it," Torin said sheathing his sword.

"Fine, but I'm watching you," Astrid said, glaring at Torin, before returning to Hiccup's side.

The other riders left the clubhouse, leaving Torin alone with Nightstorm once again.

"Looks like it's just you and buddy," Torin said scratching Nightstorm's chin.

Torin settled down against Nightstorm's side and began looking through the books he had. A couple hours later he dropped the book, The Saga of Erik the Red, he was looking through and sprang to his feet.

He dug through his saddlebags until he found his map.

"That's it! That's where the Nightfuries are!" He exclaimed quickly running out of the clubhouse to find Fishlegs or Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" He yelled knocking on his door. "I know where the Nightfuries are!"

Hiccup's door opened a moment later.

"Gather the other riders at the clubhouse," Torin said.

Once the other riders were all gathered in the clubhouse, Torin showed them The Saga of Erik the Red.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked them.

"A book," Snoutlout said.

"It's the Saga of Erik the Red," Fishlegs said.

"Right, it catalogs his journey to a faraway land called Vinland," Torin said.

Torin then pulled out the Dragon eye and began tracing Erik the Red's journey over the glowing map, the riders eyes widened as they realized where it was leading to.

Torin stopped at the large land mass on the map.

"That is where the other Nightfuries are," He said pointing. "That is where we are going, Vinland."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I don't own HTTYD

* * *

I'm going to be including more Viking history and lore throughout this story, I already have If you know Viking history and lore you should already know where the group is headed. If not, a quick google search of Leif Erikson or Vinland should tell you.(Warning! Spoilers)

* * *

"Astrid will you please just wait for a second," Torin called after her.

Astrid stopped and turned around to face Torin, her ax still in her hand.

"What?" She asked curtly.

"Will you please put the ax down; I'm trying to apologize," Torin said catching up with her. "It's kinda hard to do when you keep threatening me with your ax."

"Keep trying…Dragonslayer," Astrid spat turning back around.

"Will you just listen to me," Torin said grabbing Astrid's arm.

"Let go of me!" Astrid said.

"Please, just let me explain," Torin said letting go of Astrid's arm.

"You don't need to…" Astrid started

"I know exactly who you are," Astrid said breaking free from his grip. "You're no better than Vigo and the Hunters!"

"I am nothing like them!" Torin growled. "They kill for sport, or profit; I did it because I had to survive!"

"That doesn't make it right!" Astrid said back.

"You don't understand," Torin said. "I had no other choice! The Dragons I killed were feral, they weren't anything like Nightstorm or Stormfly."

"Don't think I never tried to train one, I tried I really did…" Torin said. "All it got me was a gash across my stomach." He said lifting his tunic revealing to Astrid three long slim scars across his stomach.

"If I hadn't killed them, they would have killed me and…," Torin stopped when Nightstorm nuzzled him

He pushed his way past Astrid. She suspected there was more to the story than that, Torin looked like had been about to say something else before Nightstorm had stopped him.

* * *

-In Torins dream-

Torin and Nightstorm were standing outside a large cave. Torin looked at the map in his hands and back up at the cave in front of them.

"This really is a Thor-forsaken place," Torin commented as the harsh, cold wind whipped against them.

Nightstorm spread his wings to shield his rider from the harsh wind, but it did little to stop natures assault.

"I think this is it, let's get inside before we freeze to death," Torin said walking into the cave, drawing his sword.

" _No! I don't want to do this again!"_

Soon after entering the cave the ground began to slope downward. Already Torin was seeing the dead bodies of other people who had dared tread into this cave.

He crouched down next to one and saw ax wounds.

"Strange," He muttered standing up again to check the other bodies, they all had similar wounds.

"I don't like this, keep an eye out buddy," Torin said to Nightstorm, drawing his sword.

The two continued through the cave, they found a few more dead bodies lying in the middle of the path, the strange thing was, a few of them seem to still be decomposing. Like they had gotten up and started walking around before being killed again. At the time, Torin didn't think anything of it and dismissed it as grave robbers or bandits, robbing the tombs.

Torin came to a stop in front of a hole in the ground, he looked down, it looked like there was water at the bottom. There was no way Nightstorm would be able to fit through, and there was no other way, except down. He would have to leave the dragon behind.

"If I'm not back in 24 hours, I want you to take this and fly back to Berk, find Hiccup; he needs to know about this," Torin said putting the map in one of Nightstorm's saddlebags. Torin hugged nightstorm around the neck, Nightstorm rumbled and nuzzled his rider, Torin took one last look at his dragon before dropping down the hole, into the unknown.

* * *

-Reality-

Torin gasped and woke up, he knew very well what was at the bottom of that hole. He shook the memory of the dream from his head and stood up, he was surprised to see Nightstorm wasn't in the clubhouse. It wasn't like him to wander off like that.

Torin left the clubhouse in search of his awol Dragon. He saw him at a distance playing around with Windsher, Toothless, and Stormfly by the stables.

"At least they seem to be getting along,"

Torin turned around and saw Hiccup standing behind him.

"Oh, you heard about that," Torin said meaning his argument with Astrid earlier.

"Nothing happens on this island that I don't know about," Hiccup said quoting his father.

"Quoting Stoick now?" Torin asked.

"What were you two arguing about?" Hiccup asked.

"Astrid has this insane notion that I'm a Dragonslayer," Torin said.

"Are you?" Hiccup asked him.

"No!" Torin answered him. "I was attacked, I was defending myself, Nightstorm and…"

"And…?" Hiccup asked.

"And that's it, I was defending myself against a group of feral Dragons is all," Torin said. "I still have the scars on my stomach from where one clawed me."

Hiccup, like Astrid, sensed there was more to the story than Torin was letting on.

"Is the Ship ready yet?" Torin asked changing the subject.

"Nearly, we're removing the cages now," Hiccup said. "Vinland, I thought that place was just a Myth."

"Just like Vanahiem," Torin said.

"How do you know that name?" Hiccup asked looking at Torin.

"Vanahiem? It's the resting place for Dragons," Torin said.

"You've been there?" Hiccup asked, shocked.

"Uh…yeah," Torin said unsure of what Hiccup's reaction would be. "I've been to all kinds of places, all over the world."

"That Bewilderbeast skeleton is something else,"

"The what?" Hiccup asked. "How did you know what it was called?"

"I can't tell you that," Torin said. "I made a promise to keep it a secret."

"Keep what a secret?" Hiccup pressed.

"I'm sorry, I can't, but you'll find out very soon," Torin said.

"Is it related to the Dragon Hunters?" Hiccup asked.

"Sort of…" Torin said. "But that's all I can say, I've already revealed too much."

Before Hiccup could ask any more questions, Torin got on to Nightstorm and flew off; He flew down to the dock to check out the ship.

"How's it going?" He asked Fishlegs, getting off Nightstorm.

"We just finished removing the cages, and were about to start on the crossbows, net, and bola launchers," Fishlegs informed him.

"Maybe we should leave those in place," Torin said. "We may need them to defend against wild dragons or worse."

"He's right," Heather said landing on the deck next to Torin.

"We have no idea whats waiting for us beyond the horizon," Heather added. "Better safe than sorry."

"All that's left to do then is replace the sails and get supplies from Berk," Fishlegs said.

"Food shouldn't be too much of a problem, our dragons can catch plenty of fish for us," Torin said.

"Once we repair the sails we can get underway," Fishlegs added.

"Excellent," Torin said. "I think maybe Hiccup and I should fly ahead and let them know we're coming. We don't want to be attacked."

"Good idea," Hiccup said landing on the deck of the ship.

"Alright, lead the way," Torin said climbing onto Nightstorm's saddle.

The two Nightfuries launched off the deck of the ship heading for the island of Berk.

* * *

Yes, I am implying that Torin, at some point, has met Hiccup's mother as she's the only one other person who's used the name Bewilderbeast, and her dialogue seems to indicate she's met a Nightfury before Toothless


	6. Back to Berk

Back to Berk

Sorry for the long hiatus, but I wanted to wait until season six of Race to the Edge was released, and I was able to finish watching it before I posted another chapter so I could avoid any significant spoilers.

Again, I don't own Dreamworks or HTTYD

* * *

Hiccup, and Torin flew in silence toward the island of Berk, Torin was enjoying the flight, but he sensed a question coming from Hiccup.

"What is it?" He finally asked.

"Who told you it was called a Bewilderbeast?" Hiccup asked. "I've never heard of a Dragon called that before."

"I told you, I can't say, I made a promise to keep it a secret," Torin said.

"You can't tell me anything?" Hiccup pressed.

"No," Torin said firmly leaving no room for further discussion. "Race you to Berk?"

"You're on!" Hiccup said urging Toothless forward.

"Oh no, you don't!" Torin said chasing after him.

Nightstorm being the slightly larger dragon, he quickly caught up with Toothless, they were nose to nose until Berk came into view and they reached the sea stacks, where Nightstorm's lack of agility came into effect.

"Go over them!" Torin said.

Nightstorm pumped his wings faster and rose over the sea stacks. In the open air above the sea stacks, Nightstorm could stretch his wings a little more. Torin leaned over his saddle and saw Hiccup up below them swerving between the rocks.

Below them, Hiccup twisted around in the saddle to look behind him but didn't see Torin or Nightstorm anywhere behind them. A roar from above him made him look up where he saw Torin and Nightstorm.

"No fair!" Hiccup shouted even though he knew they couldn't hear him.

Once they cleared the sea stacks, Nightstorm and Toothless were on the same level and nearly neck and neck as they reached the island and flew over the village to the Academy and landed. Nightstorm being the first into the Academy.

"That was fun," Torin commented getting off Nightstorm.

"You cheated, you flew over the sea stacks instead of going through," Hiccup said.

"You never said I couldn't," Torin answered patting Nightstorm on the side. "Good job buddy."

The sight of a second Nightfury flying over the village had caused a stir amongst the villagers, soon after landing Berks chief, Stoick the Vast and Gobber arrived at the Academy.

"Easy Nightstorm," Torin said as the dragon growled slightly. "They're friends, remember."

"What is going on here?" Stoick asked. "Who is that?"

Torin was a little surprised Stoick didn't recognize him, then again the last time anyone on Berk had seen him, he had been plummeting towards the frozen sea with Nightstorm chasing him.

"Hello, Chief," Torin said.

Now Stoick recognized this boy and his Nightfury.

Torin saw a flash of recognition on Stoick's face; he didn't seem to happy to see him. Then again Torin couldn't blame him, the last time he had been on berk, a large pack of wild dragons had followed him and nearly destroyed the village.

"Dad, you remember Torin and Nightstorm," Hiccup said.

"Aye, I remember the pack of ravenous wild dragons that followed them here," Stoick said. "They nearly destroyed the whole village!"

"I'm sorry," Torin apologized. "I didn't know they would follow me so far."

"Why are you here?" Stoick asked them.

"Dad, we need to talk," Hiccup said sounding serious.

A short while later Hiccup and Torin met Stoick in the mead hall.

"Right, what's this about?" Stoick asked.

"Torin thinks he knows where the Nightfuries are," Hiccup said holding out the Dragon Eye.

"He found a lense far up north that could lead us to them," Hiccup explained. "Give me a slow burn Toothless."

The light from Toothless's fire illuminated a map on the wall, Hiccup set the Dragon Eye on the Table and walked up to the wall.

"Where is that?" Stoick asked not recognizing the land mass. It was far to the west, further than anyone had been, across the ocean.

"Vinland," It was Torin's turn to speak up.

"You mean the mythical land discovered by Erik the Red?" Stoick asked. "A child's story."

Torin dropped a book on the table with a loud thud.

"This is his memoirs; it details his journey to this land," Torin said. "I compared his journey, to the map in the Dragon Eye, they match up almost perfectly."

Stoick still looked skeptical at Torin's claim.

"In the book, he mentions large blackish dragons that make a screaming sound, and emit a purple flame sound familiar?" Torin said.

"What is the part you aren't telling us?" Stoick asked.

Torin paused for a moment before speaking again.

"They destroyed the settlement and drove him off the land," Torin added. "The Vikings who didn't die from the attacks died from starvation."

"There it is," Stoick said taking a drink from his mug.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't go," Hiccup said. "We finally have a chance to find other Nightfuries."

"You should be focusing on finding Vigo and the Dragon hunters, not chasing after a story in a book," Spitelout said.

"I disagree," Torin said.

"Have you ever actually seen this new land?" Stoick asked Torin.

"Well…no, no I haven't," Torin answered truthfully. "Nightstorm and have never been that far west."

"How do we know this place even exists, this could all be a wild Nadder chase for all we know," Spitelout said

"Oh come on!" Torin exclaimed. "Where's your sense of adventure? The desire to see what lies beyond the horizon, discovering new lands; we're Vikings for Thor's sake!"

All of the older Vikings remained silent.

"Fine," Torin said before storming out of the Meadhall with Nightstorm behind him.

"We're not members of the Hooligan Tribe, we don't need Stoick's permission, we'll just go on our own," Torin said to Nightstorm. "We've flown out pretty far before; we can do it again."

Nightstorm rumbled uncertainly at his rider.

Later that day, Hiccup found Torin sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Dragon Academy, pouring over a series of large maps laid out on the floor as he chewed on an apple.

It took Hiccup a moment to realize they were Torin's hand-drawn maps, and they covered every part of the known world.

"You really have been everywhere," Hiccup said looking at the map. "I never knew the world was so big."

"And you said there were dragons everywhere?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah," Torin said standing up, pulling a book out of Nightstorm's saddle bag, giving it to Hiccup.

"My version of the Book of Dragons," Torin said, "It has information about every dragon I've come across."

"Fishlegs would love this," Hiccup said flipping through the pages of the book until he came across a serpent looking dragon he didn't recognize.

"What is this one?" Hiccup asked showing Torin the picture in the book. "A Slitherwing?"

"No, that is one of my favorites," Torin said. "The Chinese Dragon."

"Look more closely, they have no visible wings, and yet it can twist and fly through the air like a serpent," Torin said. "They are worshiped as gods in China."

"What about this one?" Hiccup asked pointing to another Dragon.

"Oh, that's Wyvern," Torin said. "Another one of my favorites."

"It looks kinda like a cross between a Deadly Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare," Hiccup said examining the drawing.

"And just as deadly, I can assure you," Torin said.

"Hunter ship spotted off the coast!" Someone yelled interrupting them.

"They're early," Hiccup said quickly standing up rushing over to Toothless who was resting in the sun nearby.

Torin, however, was the first in the air and saw the hunter ship sailing toward Berk, it was indeed the ship they had captured.

"Hold your fire!" Advised the auxiliary riders. "It's one of ours."

Torin and Hiccup flew out to the ship and landed on the deck.

"You guys are early," Hiccup said getting off Toothless. "We weren't expecting you for a few more days."

"We had a good tailwind," Heather explained.

"What about the trip to Vinland, did Stoick approve it?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yeah, about that…" Torin said. "It seems like Stoick would rather we focused on the Dragon Hunters."

"So…the trip is off?" Fishlegs asked.

"Not necessarily," Torin said thinking. "I have a few ideas on how to get around Stoick's permission."

* * *

What are Torin's plans to leave without Stoick's permission?


	7. Chapter 7

Journey's Start

I do not own HTTYD.

Sorry about the long delay between chapters.

Did everyone see the HTTYD 3 trailer? I did, and I can't wait it looks awesome! Toothless stole the show in the trailer interacting with the Lightfury…which by the way…

* * *

"So what are we going to do?" Fishlegs asked.

"Well, I'm not a member of your tribe, so I don't need to listen to what Stoick says," Torin said. "But, Nightstorm and I can't do this on our own, we tried once, it didn't work."

"If we split up and leave a few riders behind to help defend Berk and The Edge, we might be able to do this," Torin added.

"Who are you thinking about leaving behind?" Hiccup asked.

Torin thought for a moment before saying. "Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Twins could stay behind while the rest of us travel to Vinland. The ship only has so much room anyway, most of that we'll need for supplies."

"I'll think about it," Hiccup said knowing Fishlegs would be disappointed in being left behind.

He could see Torin's reasoning, it could take them weeks to sail to their destination but he wasn't blind, he knew Torin had to be picking Astrid and Heather, two of their best warriors, for a reason.

"We should mention this new plan to my dad," Hiccup said.

Torin didn't like needing Stoick's permission, he was so used to being on his own, and not having to ask permission for anything. Well unless you counted when he fought for a Viking named Ivar.

Torin thought back to that and smiled a little.

"What are you smiling about?" Heather asked him.

"Nothing, it's not important," Torin said climbing back onto Nightstorm.

"Where are you two going?" Hiccup asked as Heather climbed onto Windsher's saddle.

"We're just going for a short flight, don't worry," Torin explained. "We'll be back by dark, probably."

With that, Nightstorm took to the skies, Torin's mind flashed back his search for the Dragon eye lens, he shook his head vigorously to rid himself of the horrors.

"Are you okay?" Heather asked flying next to him on Windsher.

"I'm fine," Torin lied.

Having to fight his way through an army of Dragur wasn't something he could easily forget.

"You're not fine," Heather said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Torin said again.

"Are you going to keep lying to me, or are you going to tell me the truth," Heather said.

"Fine, we'll land on that island," Torin said pointing down.

The two riders landed on the island, Torin got off Nightstorm and tossed Heather his dragon eye lens.

"Do you recognize that?" He asked.

"Of course, it's the dragon eye lens you found," Heather said when she caught it.

"Do you know where I found it," Torin asked. "Or how?"

"Vaguely," Heather replied. "You found it way up north, didn't you?"

"In a land where the sun never sets, the snow and ice never melt," Torin said. "In a place where even gods fear to tread…"

"You told me this before," Heather interrupted.

"In a crypt," Torin finished. "Guarded by the undead, Dragur,"

"Do you really expect me to believe that? Dragur are just a myth," Heather said.

"A myth didn't try to kill me," Torin responded showing her the scar on his side from an arrow.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to fight something that is literally already dead?" Torin asked Heather. "I could swing my sword at those abominations all I wanted, but it did little good unless I severed their heads."

"I had one of them charge at me with my own sword still lodged in its ribcage!"

"That sounds horrifying," Heather said.

"It was, I still can't sleep because of it," Torin said, and Nightstorm muzzled his elbow.

"The moment I made it out of that crypt, I collapsed into Nightstorm's wings,"

Heather watched him take off and disappear into the night on Nightstorm. She looked at the Dragon eye lens she still had in her hands.

" _Could Torin really be telling the truth?"_ She wondered but suspected there might be a little more to the story then he was telling her.

Torin flew back to Berk and flew over the island. In the dead of night, Nightstorm was almost invisible to anyone on the ground. He passed over the cove where Hiccup had first found an injured Toothless years ago.

They circled the small island a few more times until they landed at the Dragon Academy, Torin got off Nightstorm, drawing his sword and started attacking one of the training dummies.

Nightstorm watched him nervously. His rider had always been a bit reckless, but it had gotten worse since they had visited that crypt. Torin was hardly sleeping either, Nightstorm had been awoken several times the past few nights by his rider crying out in terror.

Come morning, Torin was still assaulting the training dummies when Astrid walked in. She was surprised to see him, normally she was the first one up.

"You're up early," Astrid said.

"I never slept," Torin responded still attacking the dummy, slicing its arm off.

Torin paused and turned around to face Astrid, still holding his sword.

For the first time, Astrid noticed something about Torin's sword, it was made out of Gronkle iron.

"That sword is made out of Gronkle iron," She observed.

"Yeah," Torin said.

"Where did you get it?" Astrid asked.

"I made it," Torin said sheathing the weapon. "I have an Ax too."

Torin pulled a small one-handed ax off Nightstorm's saddle and tossed it from hand to hand.

"Its kinda small isn't it?" Astrid smirked.

Without warning, Torin threw the ax at the training dummy, embedding it into the wood, and knocking it over. Torin smirked at Astrid before walking over to the dummy and pulling the ax out of the wood.

"That's a nice trick, but it leaves you without a weapon," Astrid said back folding her arms across her chest.

"That is what the sword is for," Torin said.

"It's still reckless to throw your weapon away like that," Astrid said. "It leaves you vulnerable."

"I'll take my chances," Torin said putting the ax back on Nightstorm's saddle. "If anything, I can always fall back on Nightstorm," Torin added patting the nightfury on the head.

"You can't always rely on your Dragon," Astrid pointed out.

"Maybe not, but it's still good to know he's always nearby," Torin said.

Astrid looked at the Nightfury and looked at him. She could tell the dragon was now completely blind in one eye. The scar across his face was faded, but it was still somewhat visible.

"You really never found any Nightfuries in your travels, did you?" She asked Torin.

"No," Torin said after a moment, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"But that's why we're going on this journey," Torin added. "To find them."

"By the way, you ever heard of something called a Lightfury?" Torin asked.

"A what?" Hiccup asked walking into the Academy.

"Nothing, nevermind," Torin said seeing Hiccup. "So, what did your Dad say?"

"He gave us the go ahead," Hiccup said. "We can leave as soon as we're ready."

"Great!" Torin said eager to get going.

Torin left the Academy with Nightstorm, Hiccup moved to follow him, but Astrid stopped him by grabbing him by the arm.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't trust him," Astrid said talking about Torin. "He's hiding something. He just casually mentioned something called a Lightfury."

"Astrid…" Hiccup said.

"I'm telling you, something's off," Astrid said. "He just happens to have a Dragon Eye lense that points to Nightfuries? How did he know where to look for it?"

"Astrid, you're paranoid," Hiccup said.

"He's wearing Dragon scale armor for Thor's sake!" Astrid exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean anything, besides he already explained why he has the armor," Hiccup said.

"Fine," Astrid huffed.

If she was going to figure out what was going on, she was going to have to do it herself. She'd wait until Torin and Nightstorm both went to sleep for the night before she made her move.

* * *

Uh oh, looks like Astrid still suspects Torin is up to something. What will she find?


End file.
